Hackers in China have hit oil and gas companies: McAfee report

BEIJING - Hackers operating from China have stolen sensitive information from Western oil companies, a United States security firm said, adding to complaints about Internet crime traced to the country. The report on Thursday by McAfee did not identify the companies but said the "coordinated, covert and targeted" attacks began in November 2009 and hit the computers of oil and gas companies in the US, Taiwan, Greece and Kazakhstan. It said the attackers stole information on operations, bidding for oil fields and financing. It also said the extraction of information occurred from 9am to 5pm local time on weekdays, suggesting those involved were working a regular job, not freelancers or amateurs. It said they used hacking tools of Chinese origin that are prevalent on Chinese underground hacking forums. McAfee cited a Chinese man as being linked to the cyber-spying. It said Mr ...